I have a powerbook 1.67 mhz g4 with 512mb ram .. I got this computer december of 06 and now it is finally to start slowing down on me(nothing crazy but it is annoying) ... is it worth me going and upgrading to more memory?(2g) and upgrading to leopard? plus i have a few knicks and dents on my casing and i wanna to know if changing the casing is possible? plus where i plug in my charger is a little messed up and it takes a lot of twiddling to get the charger to work ... i live in nyc and plan on taking the computer to tekserve to get an estimate but if all this work is gonna cost me over 500 then i might as well buy a macbook and just keep this as a secondary computer but if i can get all this work done at a resonable price ill keep it? what do you suggest? and is there anything else i can do to beef up this comp? i dont use this computer for anything crazy just regular use im not doing any video photo or music editing maybe that will help with someones advice

hey there, i used to work at tekserve... just FYI, as much as i love the place, and know for a fact they do excellent work, you'll save a TON of money on upgrades going elsewhere. Ram is horrifically overpriced... not there specifically, retail in general. i'd get it online. that said, if your DC-In board is broken (the wiggling) or just the housing bent, either way you're looking at around 195 labor, and another 167-ish for the bottom case, or 195 labor and 80ish for the DC-in.... personally, i'd say that machine is still decent, but you might get more enjoyment selling it off (either as-is, or repairing it) and getting a new machine, with a warranty. In which case, i whole-heartedly recommend getting it from tekserve. if you buy a machine there, support is top notch, and they usually cut you a break on accessories and such.
just my opinion

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeydooodie

I have a powerbook 1.67 mhz g4 with 512mb ram .. I got this computer december of 06 and now it is finally to start slowing down on me(nothing crazy but it is annoying) ... is it worth me going and upgrading to more memory?(2g) and upgrading to leopard? plus i have a few knicks and dents on my casing and i wanna to know if changing the casing is possible? plus where i plug in my charger is a little messed up and it takes a lot of twiddling to get the charger to work ... i live in nyc and plan on taking the computer to tekserve to get an estimate but if all this work is gonna cost me over 500 then i might as well buy a macbook and just keep this as a secondary computer but if i can get all this work done at a resonable price ill keep it? what do you suggest? and is there anything else i can do to beef up this comp? i dont use this computer for anything crazy just regular use im not doing any video photo or music editing maybe that will help with someones advice

A new entry-level MacBook, for $1100 plus tax (free shipping) would be a big improvement over your PowerBook -- faster, more RAM, Leopard, a new warranty, and no dents. You could have a free HP Photosmart C4280 printer too, if you play the rebate game. If you are eligible for a student discount or you can sell your PowerBook for a few dollars, the total is even less.

If you are the do-it-yourself type, you might like doing piecemeal upgrades to your PowerBook, and you can shop for bargains, but the result won't match a new Mac.